Apparatus for transferring metal billets



Nov. 8, 1966 G DEAN ETAL 3,283,919

APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING METAL BILLETS Filed Sept. 23, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet l lNVENTORS LESUE GEORGE DEAN GERALD WILLIAM GRANT AkLAN I ALL ATTORNEYS Nov. 8, 1966 Filed Sept.

L. G. DEAN ETAL APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING METAL BILLETS ill FIG. 2

4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS LESLIE GEORGE DEAN GERALD WILLIAM GRANT BY ALLAN BALL 1 y d ql f, it I ATTORNEYS Nov. 8, 1966 L. G. DEAN ETAL 3,283,919

APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING METAL BILLETS Filed Se 1;. 23, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS LESLIE GEORGE DEAN GERALD WILLIAM GRANT BY ALLAN BALL ATTORNEYS L. G. DEAN ETAL 3,283,919

APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING METAL BILLETS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Nov. 8, 1966 Filed Sept. 23, 1964 i O E 38 L 4 i L 5 8 92 26 2,8 94

GERALD Y ALLAN BALL INVENTORS LESLIE GEORGE DEAN WILLIAM GRANT United States Patent 3,283,919 APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING METAL BILLETS Leslie George Dean, Poole, Dorset, Gerald William Grant,

Bournemouth, and Allan Ball, Parkstone, Dorset, England, assignors to The Loewy Engineering Company Limited, Bournemouth, England, a company of Great Britain Filed Sept. 23, 1964, Ser. No. 398,716 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Sept. 24, 1963, 37,612/ 63 Claims. (Cl. 214-1) This invention relates to apparatus for transferring metal billets, especially metal billets to be used for the production of hollow articles, such as tubes, by hot extrusion.

Billets used for that purpose are generally perforated before being fed to the extrusion press, each billet thus being provided in its centre with a longitudinal bore large enough to fit over the mandrel of the extrusion press. As is well known, in the extrusion of tubes and other hollow articles, this mandrel is advanced through the perforated billet and into a die, defining with the latter an aperture corresponding in shape to the crosssection of the articles tobe extruded.

It has been found that for the successful extrusion of hollow articles of a consistently regular cross-section, it is necessary for the bore at that end of the billet which is initially presented to the die to be as nearly co-axial as possible with the billet.

Neither of the two conventional billet-perforating methods, however, produces billets with perfectly co-axial bores. In the first method, an imperforate heated billet is loaded into a container of a press, the container being of somewhat greater diameter and length than the billet. The billet is pierced in its centre by a stem-shaped tool, the billet thereby increasing in diameter and length. The bore produced by this method is substantially co-axial with the billet and concentric with its periphery at that end where the stern has entered the billet, but becomes less so towards the other end of the billet, the stem being more liable to wander from the axial path the further it extends into the billet and is projected out of its guide means in the press.

In the alternative method, a pilot bore of smaller diameter than the final bore is first drilled in the billet. The drilled bore is than enlarged by a stem to the final diameter. Billets treated in this way have a bore with optimum concentrici-ty at the end remote from that first penetrated by the mandrel.

If, as is usual, the billets are perforated in a vertical press, with the stem entering the billets from above, then billets treated by the first method will have a bore that is substantially co-axial and concentric at the top, but loses its concentricity towards the bottom, while with billets treated by the second method, the reverse will be the case.

In practice, billets treated by either of the two methods will be used in the same extrusion press at different times. It is therefore desirable that apparatus used for transferring billets to an extrusion press from a perforating press should have facilities for selectivity changing the position of a billet in the apparatus, so that one or other of the ends of a billet can be placed next to the die of the extrusion press when the billet is loaded into the container of that press.

Accordingly, the present invention provides apparatus for transferring metal billets, comprising billet-holding means mounted for rotation about an axis intersecting the longitudinal axis of a billet in said holding means, means for selectively rotating said holding means about said axis from a billet-receiving orientation to either of two oppositely directed orientations, and means for moving means 17.

3,283,919 Patented Nov. 8, 1966 said holding means between a billet-receiving station and a billet-releasing station.

The billet-receiving station may be at or next to a perforating press, and the billet-releasing station at or next to an extrusion press. Apparatus according to the invention is then specially adapted for the transfer of billets from the perforating press to the extrusion press and for the release of the billets in that orientation which is suited to the method of perforation employed.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, which is used for a vertical perforating press and a horizontal extrusion press, the billet-holding means are pivotably mounted about a vertical axis for rotation from the billetreceiving to the billet-releasing station, and the billetholding means are further tiltable about an axis intersecting the longitudinal axis of a billet in said holding means for rotation from the billet-receiving orientation to one of the two billet-releasing orientations. The billetholding means may then be mounted at the end of a cantilever arm pivotable about a vertical axis and tiltable about the longitudinal axis of that arm.

The billet-holding means may be in the form of a trough open at both ends for the entry therein or the release therefrom of a billet. The trough may have releasable clam-ping means for holding a billet in position therein. The axis of rotation for tilting the trough from a billet-receiving orientation to one of the two billetreleasing orientations may pass through the centre of a billet which is held in the trough. In this Way, it will be ensured that the billets, after transfer, arrive in the same position at the billet-releasing station, irrespective of the orientation of the billets.

Separate or common drive means may be provided for the rotation of the billet-holding means in one of the two oppositely directed billet-releasing orientations and for moving the holding means from the billet-receiving station to the billet-releasing station. In the case of common drive means, these may be inoperative for part of the tilting movement of the billet-holding means if the angle of tilt of these means is smaller than the angle by which these means are moved during their transfer from the billet-receiving station to the billet-releasing station.

The invention will now be described in detail by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings which show two embodiments:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation, partly in section of a billettransfer apparatus in accordance with the invention, shown in conjunction with parts of a vertical perforating press and with a conveyor for carrying perforated billets to a horizontal extrusion press.

FIG. 2 is a plan view, partly in section, taken along the line IIII of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary end elevation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a plan view, partly in section of parts of a second embodiment of a billet transfer apparatus in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 5 is a front elevation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of part of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a section along the line VII-VII of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a section along the line VIII-VIII of FIG. 7.

In FIG. 1, there is shown a vertical perforating press having two containers 2 and 102, both mounted on a common carrier 4. The latter can be rotated about an upright column 6 built into the press. While one of the containers 2, 102 is at a working station and therefore in axial alignment with the press tools 8, 10, 12 and 14, the other container is at a parking station and in axial alignment with an ejector ram 16 and billet-holding The tools of the perforating press include, a usual, an inner stem 8 for piercing an imperforate billet throughout its length or for widening a pre-d-rilled pilot bore in a billet, an outer stem 10 for compacting the billet in a container bore prior to piercing, if necessary, an annular backing plate 12 and a retractable closure stem 14'which, after retraction, allows disposal of the billet material pierced out by the stem 8. The billet-holding means include a trough of prismatic configuration which is open at both ends and has, on its inside, pads 21, and a clamping member 22 which can be actuated by a piston-and-cylinder unit 24 for holding a billet firmly against the pads 21, and thereby in the trough 20.

The billet-holding means 17 can be moved by rotation in a manner presently to be described from a billet-receiving station at or next to a perforating press, to a billet-releasing station at or next to an extrusion press. Thus, a billet B1 ejected from container 2 can be transferred from one station to the other while a billet B2 in container 102 in perforated by either of the tow above methods.

The billet-holding means 17, when in their releasing station shown at the left in FIG. 2, deposit a billet on a conveyor 18 for transport thereon in the direction of the arrow. The billets are transferred broadside from the conveyor to a horizontal extrusion press, not shown, which is so arranged that its extrusion stroke has a direction opposite to that of the arrow. Assuming that the billets have been perforated in the press by piercing and that therefore the billet bore has its optimum con centricity at that end which was initially at the top of the billet when the latter was in the container 2 to 102, then the billet should be so deposited on the conveyor 18 that what was its top end in the container becomes its trailing end on the conveyor. Conversely, if the billets have been perforated by the method in which a drilled pilot bore is widened, then the optimum concentricity of the billet bore is to be found at that end which was initially at the bottom in the container operation, and the billet should be desposited on the container in the opposite orientation.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the trough 20 is mounted on a cantilever arm 26 which is pivotable about a vertical axix X-X and which forms a bearing for a shaft 28 secured to the trough. The end of the shaft remote from the trough is coupled by a flat key 29 to a hub 38 which encircles the shaft 28 (FIG. 2). The key is received in aligned slots 31 and 31 in the end faces of the shaft and hub respectively, and secured therein by screws 33. There are two sets of slots 31' in the hub for a purpose described below, the slots of one set being at right-angles to those of the other set. The hub has a radial lug 32 pivotably connected at 34 to a piston-and-cylinder 36, the latter being pivotably connected in turn at 37 to a stationary part 39. Pressure fluid fed to the lower end of unit 36 rocks the lug 32 and the hub 30 about the longitudinal axis YY of the arm 26, with the shaft 28 also taking part in the rotation. The lug moves from the position shown in full lines in FIG. 2 to that shown in dotted lines in the same figure, rota-ting at the same time by 90, so that the trough 20* is tilted from it upright billet-receiving orientation into a horizontal billet-releasing orientation.

The arm 26 is mounted on a vertical pillar 38 which passes through bearings 40 in brackets 42 secured to a part of the frame 44 of the press. Rotary hydraulic motors 46 and 48 are also secured to the brackets 42 and can be connected to opposite ends of the pillar 38 by couplings 50- and 52. Motor 46 can turn the pillar 38 clockwise and motor 48 anti-clockwise when viewed from above, as in FIG. 2.

The arm 26 is provided with an abutment 54 which engages a stop 56 on the frame 44 and limits its clockwise rotation. Anti-clockwise rotation of the arm 26 is limited by an abutment 58 which engages a stop 60,

whereby the trough 20 is accurately positioned in alignment with that container 2 or 102 which is at the parking station of the perforating press.

Arranged below the conveyor 18 is a pusher unit 61 comprising a pusher head 62 and a piston-an-d-cylinder unit 64 for advancing or 'retracting the head 62. This unit can be lifted and lowered in vertical guides 66 by another piston-and-cylinder unit 70 (FIG. 1), so that the head 62 can be placed in alignment with a billet in the trough 20 when the latter is rotated about the pillar 38.

A perforated billet B1 is ejected by ram 16 from the container at the parking station of the press and received by trough 20. The billet is then firmly clamped by clamp 22 to the trough. For transfer of the billet B1 from the perforating press to the conveyor 18, the motor 46 is actuated to turn the pillar 38 about its axis YY and thereby also cantilever arm 26 through an angle of 180 in a horizontal arc and in a clockwise direction, as seen from above. During this rotation, or shortly before or after, the unit 36 is actuated to rock hub 30 and shaft 28 and tilt trough 20 by 90. At the end of this tilting movement, trough 20 reaches the position shown in chain lines in FIGS. 1 and 2, i.e., the trough 20, with a billet received therein, lies above the conveyor 18 when the trough has been rotated about the pillar 38, with the longitudinal axis of the billet being parallel to that of the conveyor 18. Unit 24 is now operated to open clamp 22, whereupon unit 61 advances pusher head 62 and pushes the billet B1 out of the trough 20 and onto the conveyor 18.

The billet is now so orientated by the tilting of the trough 28 that what was the top of the billet While in a container in the perforating press becomes the trailing end of the billet when on the conveyor.

If the perforating press is used for carrying out the method in which a drilled pilot bore is enlarged by a stem, the trough 20 must be tilted in the opposite sense to that described, in order that the billets are deposited on the conveyor so orientated that what was the bottom end of a billet in the container of the press becomes the trailing end of the billet on the conveyor. To this end, the following adjustments of the tilting mechanism for the trough 20 have to be made:

First the key 29, FIG. 3, is taken out of the slots 31 and 31' in the end faces of the shaft 28 and the hub 30 respectively. Unit 36 is then actuated to rotate hub 30 through 90 about the axis YY of cantilever arm 26. Rotation of hub 30 raises lug 32 into the position shown in chain lines in FIG. 3, with the piston of the unit 36 in its top position. Rotational movement of hub 30 has no effect on the shaft 28 as the key 29 has been removed and the shaft 28 and the trough 20 remain in the positions shown in the drawings. After rotation through 90, another slot 31' aligns with slot 31, and the key is then replaced in the aligned slots.

After a billet perforated in accordance with the second method-widening of a pilot bore-has been ejected from the container 2 or 102 by ram 16 into the trough 20, the clamp 22 is actuated as described above and the billet thereby held tightly in the trough. Unit 36 is now actuated in the downward direction, and the trough is tilted by 90 as in the case of billets perforated by the first method, but in the opposite direction. Thus, the end of the billet which was at the bottom of the container in the press and has optimum concentricity becomes the trailing end when the billet moves along conveyor 18 towards the extrusion press.

FIGS. 4 to 8 of the drawings illustrate a second embodiment of the invention in which the trough 20 is rotated about the axis YY of the arm 26 by the same drive as the pillar 38. Parts common to both embodiments have the same reference numbers throughout the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, there is mounted, in a manner to be described below, on pillar 38, a bevel gear which is in engagement with a second bevel gear 82, secured to .an intermediate shaft 84. Bevel gears 86 and 88 can freely rotate about shaft 84 and are adapted to engage selectively another bevel gear 90, secured to shaft 28. The bevel gears 86 and 88 are coupled for rotation with shaft 84 by a dog-clutch 92 which is splined to that shaft and can be slid along it by means of a pivoted lever 94, the latter being adapted to be locked in two positions to a stationary part by means of a pin 96.

The bevel gears of the embodiment shown are of equal ratio, so that revolution of arm 26 through a given angle about the axis XX of the pillar 38 will result in a rotation of the shaft 28 through the same angle. However, in the present case it is required of shaft 28 and trough 20 to rotate through only 90 while the cantilever arm swings through 180, and to this end bevel gear 80 is mounted on the pillar 38 in the manner shown in FIGS. 6 to 8.

The bevel gear 80 is formed at its underside with an arcuate recess 98 subtending an angle of 90; a lug 100 projects from the pillar 38 into that recess. A circular cavity 102 inside the hub of gear 80 encloses a torsion spring 104 which with one end is anchored to the gear and with the other end to a stationary bracket 105. This spring tends to rotate bevel gears 80 in an anti-clockwise direction, as seen from above in FIG. 6, but this rotation is arrested when pin 106 of bevel gear 80 abuts against a stationary stop 108 (FIG. 7).

Thus, when the pillar 38 is rotated by motor 46 in the clockwise direction during transfer of a billet from the perforating press to the conveyor 18, bevel gear 80' will not rotate, but cantilever arm 26 will revolve about the vertical axis X-X of the pillar 38, as described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. As bevel gear 80 is stationary, bevel gear 82 which is in mesh with bevel gear 80 rotates, and thereby also intermediate shaft 84. With the dogclutch 92 in the position shown in FIG. 4, rotation of shaft 84 is transmitted to bevel gear 86 and from thence to bevel gear 90, causing shaft 28 to rotate about the axis YY of arm 26 and trough 20 to be tilted. After rotation of the pillar 38 by 90 in the clockwise direction, lug 100 has traversed the full angle of arcuate recess 98. Upon further rotation of shaft 38, bevel gear 80 will rotate as well and there will be no relative movement between the two bevel gears 80 and 82. Hence, no further rotary movement is transmitted to shaft 28 and trough 20, and the trough remains in its tilted position. When the arm 26 is rotated in the anti-clockwise direction by motor 48 for the return of cantilever arm 26, bevel gears 80 will rotate in the same direction through an angle of 90, due to the action of spring 104, until pin 106 meets stop 108. Thereupon, the bevel gear 80 comes to a standstill, whereby bevel gear 82 is caused to rotate, this time in the reverse direction, rotating shaft 28 and tilting back trough 20 into the upright position. This movement will not take place, however, until arm 26 has been returned halfway to the press, so that there is no risk of the trough colliding with the conveyor 18 during the tilting upwards of the trough.

In order to reverse the direction of tilt of the trough 20, the pin 96 is released and the lever 94 pivoted so that dog-clutch 92 is moved away from gear 86 and towards gear 88. The latter then transmits rotary movement from shaft 84 to gear 90 and thus to shaft 28, but in the opposite direction, as before. The afore-described manner of rotating gear 82and hence also shafts 84 and 28 by 90 only for a rotation of pillar 38 by 180 is the same as described before.

In a third embodiment similar to that of FIGS. 4 to 6, a 2:1 gear reduction is employed to ensure a 90 rotation of trough 20 for a 180 rotation of arm 26. This makes it possible to dispense with the arrangement of recesses and stops 98 to 108 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.

In the embodiment shown, the arm 26 describes an arc of 180 during the transfer of the billets from the perforating press to the extrusion press. This angle can, however, vary, as it depends on the arrangement of the two presses relative to each other. The angle may be less than 180. If it is then it is possible to use the bevel gears of FIGS. 4 to 8 in the ratio of 1:1, without requiring any special arrangements for limiting the rotation of shaft 28 relative to that of pillar 38.

It is desirable for the billets, after transfer to the billet releasing station, to be in the same position with regard to the conveyor 18 and to the pusher head 16 irrespective of their orientation. This is achieved by tilting the billets about an axis perpendicular to their longitudinal axis and which intersects the latter at the billet centre.

The invention can be carried out in other ways than those described above. The essence of the invention consists in the provision of apparatus for transferring perforated metal billets which are received in an upright position from one press, to another press, and selectively tilting the billets into one of two oppositely orientated horizontal directions during that transfer.

What we claim is:

1. In combination; a vertical press, a loading station next to said vertical press, a horizontal press, a discharge station next to said horizontal press, apparatus for transferring metal billets from said vertical press to said horizontal press and for tilting said billets from an upright position at the vertical press to a prone position at the horizontal press, said apparatus comprising a billet receptacle open at both ends, a cantilever arm supporting said receptacle, a vertical pillar supporting said arm, means for rotating said arm about the axis of said pillar to move said receptacle from one station to the other, means for tilting said receptacle about a transverse axis situated halfway between the ends of said receptacle, and selector means operable independently of said rotating means for controlling the direction of the tilting movement of said receptacle from an upright to a prone position.

2. Apparatus for transferring metal billets according to claim 1, wherein said receptacle, when at the loading station, is in axial alignment with a billet container in the vertical press and in which ejecting means are provided for moving a billet from said container to said receptacle.

3. Apparatus for transferring metal billets according to claim 1, wherein said receptacle, when at the discharging station, is in axial alignment with a conveyor next to the horizontal press, and in which ejecting means are provided for moving a billet out of said receptacle and onto said conveyor, said ejector means being adapted to be lowered below the level of said conveyor.

4. Apparatus for transferring metal billets according to claim 1, wherein the vertical press is a perforating press and the horizontal press an extrusion press.

5. Apparatus for transferring metal billets according to claim 1, wherein said receptacle is attached halfway between its ends to a tilting shaft extending longitudinally through said cantilever arm, and wherein said selector means are operatively connected to said tilting shaft.

6. Apparatus for transferring metal billets according to claim 5, wherein said receptacle-tilting means are adapted to be coupled to said tilting shaft by a coupling member acting as selector means, wherein said coupling member can be moved into engagement with said shaft selectively in one of two angularly spaced-apart positions of said shaft, and wherein engagement of said coupling member in one of the two positions causes til-ting of said receptacle in one direction and engagement of said coupling member in the other position causes tilting of said receptacle in the opposite direction.

7. Apparatus for transferring metal billets according to claim 6, wherein said coupling member is a key adapted to be inserted into registering radial slots of said shaft and of a hub loosely mounted on said shaft and connected to said receptacle-tilting means.

8. Apparatus for transferring metal billets according to claim 5, wherein said tilting shaft has a rotary gear drive, and said selector means comprise a changeover clutch adapted to control the direction of rotation of said shaft.

9. Apparatus for transferring metal billets according to claim 8, wherein said gear drive is driven from the means for rotating said cantilever arm, means being provided for limiting the rotation of said tilting shaft to 90 for a rotation of said arm by 180.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Couser.

James 2141 Granstro'm 2141 Mott 2141 X Hunter 214-1 MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN COMBINATION; A VERTICAL PRESS, A LOADING STATION NEXT TO SAID VERTICAL PRESS, A HORIZONTAL PRESS, A DISCHARGE STATION NEXT TO SAID HORIZONTAL PRESS, APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING METAL BILLETS FROM SAID VERTICAL PRESS TO SAID HORIZONTAL PRESS AND FOR TILTING SAID BILETS FROM AN UPRIGHT POSITION AT THE VERTICAL PRESS TO A PRONE POSITION AT THE HORIZONTAL PRESS, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING A BILLET RECEPTACLE OPEN AT BOTH ENDS, A CANTILEVER ARM SUPPORTING SAID RECEPTACLE, A VERTICAL PILLAR SUPPORTING SAID ARM, MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID ARM ABOUT THE AXIS AND SAID PILLAR TO MOVE SAID RECEPTACLE FROM ONE STATION TO THE OTHER, MEANS FOR TILTING SAID RECEPTACLE ABOUT A TRANSVERSE AXIS SITUATED HALFWAY BETWEEN THE ENDS OF SAID RECEPACLE, AND SELECTOR MEANS OPERABLE INDEPENDENTLY OF SAID ROTATING MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE DIRECTION OF THE TILTING MOVEMENT OF SAID RECEPTACLE FROM AN UPRIGHT TO PRONE POSITION. 